So, how did I do picking the Oscar nominations?

With all the usual snubs and surprises that always accompany the Oscar announcements – some very welcome this year – very few can ever get a perfect score with their guesses. Heck, if you can’t get ’em all right when you’re just picking the winners in February, what are your chances when you’ve got to come up with five (or ten!) choices in each category? Let’s take a look at how I fared. (By the way, see the full list here.)

BEST PICTURE– I underestimated the Academy’s magnanimity; my seven movie list was two shy of their nine choices. All of my seven were nominated, but they made room for Moneyball (yay!) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (wuh?). The latter was nearly savaged by most critics and hasn’t done particularly well at the box office, but enough of the Academy voters were sufficeintly touched (take that as you will) to give it at least five percent of the number one votes. But not for Melancholia? Or Bridesmaids? Or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? I mean, come on, you still had one slot left.

Go ahead, use those binoculars. Even they wouldn't have helped you see this nomination coming down the pike.

BEST DIRECTOR – Five for five here, thank you very much. Still, I was sort of hoping David Fincher or Lars von Trier might slide right in.

BEST ACTOR – Holy cow. I picked Leonardo DiCaprio to place here, but seeing as how underwhelming all things J. Edgar have turned out to be, it’s not too much of a surprise to see him edged out. And if his loss is Gary Oldman ‘s gain, who among us can argue? It’s scandalous to say, but this is Oldman’s first ever Oscar nod. Shameful. And speaking of Shame, its leading man Michael Fassbender put it all out there and still comes up empty. The Screen Actors Guild knew it was going to be Demian Bichir for A Better Life, even if I didn’t.

It's always nice to see the new kids bringing back that old Hollywood glamour.

BEST ACTRESS – I had the four who were never in dispute: Meryl, Viola, Glenn and Michelle. But I really thought Tilda Swinton was a lock. Cheers for first-timer Rooney Mara and the resurgent The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. One year, you’re telling off Mark Zuckerberg so bad he creates Facebook, the next you’re wreaking all sorts of real violence on a variety of men who have wronged you. I fear for what comes in 2012.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Another four for five outing. And it’s all because of that Albert Brooks snub. I had even picked Nick Nolte for Warrior, so he wasn’t my spoiler. Sure, Max Von Sydow is getting the best reviews for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close; I just didn’t think it was enough to launch him here. And I’m still sad about Alan Rickman losing out on his last chance to bring some Oscar love to the BIGGEST MOVIE SERIES OF ALL TIME. (Deathly Hallows Part 2 did earn five noms, though, the most of any Harry Potter film since the first one.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Again with the four correct guesses! I took a chance on this one anyway. My mind kept toggling back and forth between newbie Shailene Woodley for The Descendants and second-timer Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs. Ultimately I went with Woodley while the Academy chose McTeer.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Surprise, surprise, Four right, one wrong. My beloved 50/50 didn’t hear its name called, but if A Separation is as good as people have been saying, who am I to deny it a seat at the table?

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – I missed two on this one. I thought Tate Taylor would ride the The Helpmomentum to a nomination here. And this is where I thought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would make a showing, not best actress. I had The Ides of March as a shoulda-been so I’m happy for its inclusion. And Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy might get the sympathy vote – it was written by Peter Straughan and his late wife Bridget O’Connor.

So where does that leave me? It’s hard to make an accurate calculation when the number of best picture candidates was always up in the air, so let’s assume nine was the preferred number. That makes 44 nominees over the course of eight categories. I correctly predicted 34. And that gives me an average of 77 percent. Not too bad. Let’s see if I can up that number when I guess the winners. Stay tuned.